Russian Officials Depart for Cuba to Submit 2017 Youth Festival Bid

A Russian delegation led by the head of Russia's Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, Sergei Pospelov, departed on Monday for the capital of Cuba, Havana, to officially submit a Russian bid to host the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students in Russia in 2017, the agency said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Friday, Sergei Pospelov said the bid was due to be officially presented at the General Assembly of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) in Cuba on November 8-12. According to him, the winning country is likely to be announced next week.

"We will stay there [in Havana] until November 12. In case the decision [on choosing Russia to host the event] will be taken, the festival is likely to be of a large scale, with up to 30,000 people [taking part in it]," Pospelov told RIA Novosti before his departure.

According to Pospelov, the Russian bid includes two cities, Moscow and the southern city of Sochi.

Russia has significant experience and the necessary infrastructure to host large-scale international events, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

The international festival has been taking place since 1947 and is organized by WFDY and the International Union of Students. The previous festival was held in Quito, Equador, in late 2013. Moscow has hosted the event twice, in 1957 and in 1985.